Kevin O’Leary, better known as “Mr. Wonderful” on the hit show “Sharktank,” just came out swinging against New York Attorney General Letitia James and her civil fraud case against former President Donald Trump. According to him, the case is absurd because what former President Trump is accused of doing is something quite common in the real estate industry and which is necessary for haggling with banks.
Appearing on CNN to talk about the case, Mr. Wonderful, a real estate industry veteran, was asked if the New York Attorney General’s case seems a bit “off,” asking, “you been doing real estate for decades? Does this case strike you as odd?”
Responding, he first explained how real estate developers haggle with banks to determine the value of properties, which makes starting with a hopeful and high estimate a prudent business practice for getting the best deal out of the haggling.
He said, “Well, let’s leave out Trump for a minute. And let’s leave out politics and just talk about what happens in real estate development anywhere. So if you’re a developer, and you’ve got a building on a block anywhere in America, and it’s worth, let’s say, $500 million, and you want to build a building right beside it, you go to the bank and say, this building is worth $500 million, I’d like to borrow a construction finance loan against this asset. And I want you to tell me, ‘it’s worth $500,000,002.’ And the bank negotiates with you, it says, ‘well, now we think it’s worth $400 million,’ and you fight it out, you’re always trying to show your assets in the brightest light with the sunshine, you can possibly determine for them, you want them to be worth the very most, because you’re only going to get a 40 or 50% loan to value as it’s called, then you borrow that money. In the case of a $500 million asset, maybe you get 250 million, and you build a new building with a construction finance loan.“
Then, continuing, O’Leary explained that all the real estate developers do that, saying, “And, and so that’s what this case is all about. What and by the way, forget about Trump, every single real estate developer everywhere on earth does this. They always talk about their asset being worth a lot? And the bank says no, that’s just the way it is.”
He next added that no one was hurt by Trump’s positive estimation of his buildings’ values, saying, “So in this case, when I’m trying to figure out and I’m not pro or con or I don’t care about the politics, who lost money, nobody the bank got paid back that construction finance loan, and a new building was built. And if you’re gonna sue this case, and when you got to sue every real estate developer everywhere, this is all they do. This is what they do all day long every day.”
Concluding, he said he thought the case would never make it through appeals and is nonsensical. In his words: “So I don’t think this thing will ever survive appeal regardless of what the fine is. This doesn’t even make sense. Now look, I know Trump’s got a lot of problems and other indictments and everything else but but this if you’re a real estate developer, you’re watching this you’re saying what is this? This is ridiculous.”
Watch him here:
Trump, posting about the case recently on Truth Social, said, “My Expert Witness in the Judge Engoron Trial is one of the most responsible and respected Experts in the Country. He is sought after by many and, in fact, was used by the N.Y. State Attorney General, the Crazed Lunatic, Letitia James. After many months of research into my Financial Statements, and just about everything else, he found “NO EVIDENCE OF ACCOUNTING FRAUD, ZERO.” He said that few people could have gone through such a test, and ended up with that result.
Continuing, he claimed, “Another Expert said that President Trump must be one of the most honest people anywhere, to go through millions of pages of examination and “NOTHING.” In any event, the Judge had fun sarcastically ridiculing my Experts, even on a personal basis, but was totally unable to use facts, statistics, or analysis, because my Financial Statements were so strong, perhaps better than anybody else in the Country in Real Estate…..”
He then added, “People who watched the Court proceedings were shocked, and the Gag Order he put on me made it impossible to say certain things that should be said. But who knows, maybe the Judge will do the right thing, which is TOTAL EXONERATION, and Damages awarded to me for the Witch Hunt that Letitia James, and her Thugs, have put me, and our Country, through!”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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